WAC expansion: Seattle joins, more schools to follow

Because of a previously-scheduled, couldn’t-miss assignment involving Cal baseball, I was a few minutes late hopping on WAC commissioner Karl Benson’s 1 p.m. teleconference.

And because of a slightly-malfunctioning cell phone, I was unable to ask questions.

But I did listen to the bulk of Benson’s remarks and I did have time to check with league sources to get a feel for the ever-changing landscape.

* As expected, Seattle comes aboard in 2012-13 to give the conference 9 basketball and 7 football schools.

* Also as expected, Benson said the WAC will continue to explore football options over the next 12-24 months — and he said it with a conviction that made me think he expects to add football schools.

* Benson confirmed that the conference has three bowl tie-ins for 2011 and only one, the Humanitarian, for 2012. (I had planned to ask about the ESPN contract but, alas, could not for the reason stated above.)

* Asked what long-term league models have been discussed by the athletic directors and presidents, Benson specifically mentioned a WAC with 12 teams, at least 9 of which play football.

To reach this (unofficial) target, the league would have to add 3 schools, at least 2 of which play football.

* My opinion: Inviting Seattle was a smart move.

Forget the fact that it’s a small school that dropped out of the WCC in 1980 … and has only been back in D-1 for a few years, and couldn’t get the 9-school WCC to offer an invite, and has a microscopic share of the Seattle sports market … and look at it this way:

If you’re the WAC and you have at least one non-football slot to fill and limited options, then Seattle — which plays in KeyArena — is a better pick than Utah Valley.

Why add a second school from Utah before adding a school from Seattle?

Gaining a wintertime foothold in Sonic-less Seattle — no matter how tiny a foothold that may be — is far more important than monopolizing small Utah cities. (The WAC already has Logan, which is really a town.)

* That said, Utah Valley and Cal State-Bakersfield are certainly candidates to join the WAC in the future if non-football schools are needed.

(CSUB is appealing in that it would give the Fresno State-less WAC a presence in the heavily-populated Central Valley. The Fresno and Bakersfield metro areas alone have approx 2 million residents.)

* Based on conversations with sources, both before and after Tuesday’s announcement, the league has IDed the following football schools as potential expansion targets:

* I know, I know: Montana has already spurned the WAC. But the jump from FCS to FBS is partly about economics, and Benson believes he’ll have more options a year from now, perhaps including Montana.

(Certainly, Lamar and Sam Houston State are not ready to make the jump right now.)

“The state of the economy didn’t allow FCS (schools) to make the decision,” Benson said.

* Lamar and Sam Houston are both good bets for future membership, in part because they would provide the WAC with geographic balance that the current members crave.

It’s not difficult to envision them joining the WAC to make a 9-team football league and Utah Valley or CSUB joining to make a 12-team basketball league … and the league splitting into divisions for hoops:

How about UT-Arlington? Everyone seems to forget they are the largest school in the UT System behind UT-Austin with almost 35,000 students which would make them the largest school in the WAC….How about their new arena which is state of the art and will hold appx 6500. Then there is talk about football coming back and believe me football in Texas works even as a startup…Look at the support UTSA is getting for their program. Also look where UTA is located smack dab in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex…Not sure but I do know that TV market is in the top 10 in the nation…No other WAC school even comes close to those numbers…I say invite UT-Arlington(non-football) with the hopes they bring football back in 3-5 years. Makes total sense for travel….They are the closest option to LA Tech…

Roadrunner One

I do like the idea of UTSA in the Big East or CUSA but with UTSA, Houston and SMU you will have the three big Texas cities. Also, why not a WAC-CUSA merger or the mega football conference of the WAC-Big East-CUSA-MWC? Otherwise, I like Cal-Riverside, Irvine and Davis, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona and Missouri State. I would really like to see Old Dominion maybe, but it is too far east.

Roadrunner One

PS-UTSA, New Mexico ST., L-Tech, Texas State to CUSA with San Jose ST. and Idaho to MWC is possible.